2026 Southern Arizona Day 6

















Hello Menlooooo! It’s your chaperone, Sophie, and sadly this is our last blog. But on the bright side, we all got to sleep in an extra hour today with a late 7am wake-up! We all went to a cute coffee shop near our inn and devoured some bagels, burritos, smoothies, coffee, and more. Then we met our community member of the day, Scott, who guided us through some historic parts of the town of Ajo. We visited a mural with some short text on Indian and Mexican town history, which was destroyed and turned into an American town, a segregated, all-white community (“a company town”). Then we went to a mine, which is not in use anymore, but the size of the hole is breathtaking. We walked around the preexisting Mexican town and Indian town, where only the flooring of the small houses remained with marks of where the rooms were. We were able to see the homes of white leaders of the mine, which were much bigger and much further from the mine, a taste of environmental injustice and racial segregation. We also got to meet Scott's neighbor Tim and his dog Daisy. Tim lived in Ajo during the mining era so he shared all about his experiences growing up. He also told us how he went on to play football on scholarship at Arizona State University and was drafted to the New England Patriots in 1978, but ultimately pursued a career in mining before moving back to Ajo 5 years ago. Then, we drove to a humanitarian aid center, where Scott works to deliver food and water to migrants trekking across the desert, crossing the border. Here, humanitarian aid is not a crime! It’s part of the community. After, we all ate some sandwiches and reflected on some themes we covered and stakeholders we spoke to on our trip so far through some activities. Finally, we drove to the pool to play and tan, quickly rinsed off, and headed to Phoenix airport to sadly end our journey. The goodbyes were hard, but everyone was grateful for the experience. 

- Sophie

As we wrap up our trip and reflect, I wanted to share a few things I noticed from seeing the experience through a chaperone’s perspective after once being a student on the trip myself. It was so fun to see how much the trip has changed since I went and how much all of the students learned and grew throughout the week. One thing that stood out to me was how willing everyone was to be curious, ask questions, and engage with the topics we discussed. When I came on the trip, we spent the first three nights camping and only saw the physical border wall once. We also focused much more on Indigenous cultures than on immigration. This time, we visited the wall three different times in Nogales, Patagonia, and Quitobaquito, and each place felt completely different and raised its own questions. It was really cool to watch the students go through the same process of observing, questioning, and learning that I experienced when I was on the trip. Being a chaperone also helped me deepen my own understanding of these topics by facilitating conversations and discussions throughout the week. I found myself learning right alongside the students. It was also so much fun to pass on trip traditions, games, and inside jokes from my trip to this one. I feel really lucky to have been able to share this experience with such a great group and to see the impact the trip had on everyone. 

- Jacob

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